BOYS SOCCER: Wachter, Friggle lead West-Mont over Perk School

NORTH COVENTRY — There are boys soccer teams out there with more overall talent than West-Mont Christian Academy. But the Wings have gone a long way this year on the strength of a career 100-goal scorer and a goalkeeper who is as quick as a cat.

And those two teamed up once again Tuesday afternoon to lead West-Mont to a 2-0 Tri-County League win over visiting Perkiomen School.

Senior midfielder Freddie Wachter got the Wings (7-0, 11-3 overall) going with his 19th of the season and 101st of his career late in the first half, and junior keeper Ben Friggle did everything except stand on his head in the second half while making 11 of his 15 saves on the day, many times stopping multiple shots by the Panthers (3-4, 4-7). Pete Si gave the winners a much-needed insurance goal midway through the second half.

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“Man-for-man, Perkiomen is a very good team,” said Wings coach Ben Robinson. “Eleven-on-eleven, they’re better than us. But with Freddie leading and our goalkeeper, we can pull games out like we did today. Freddie and Ben have delivered big-time for us.”

Wachter put the hosts on top in the 29th minute when he ripped one with the side of his left foot from the right wing into the far corner of the goal, and the score was still 1-0 at the half.

Then the Panthers came out with guns blazing in the second half, but Friggle was equal to the task with an acrobatic performance. He stopped Jae Yup Jung on a breakaway, made a save on a shot from the right wing by Jae Suk Jung, and made two more saves on a close-in shot and a follow-up by Ben Shapiro while still down on the ground after making the initial stop — all in the span of about two minutes.

Si gave the Wings a little breathing room in the 58th minute when he won a ball amidst a crowd in front and knocked it into the open net. But Friggle still had a lot of work to do as he stopped a blast by Roy Porres Suarez with 15 minutes left, made a diving stop and got back on his feet and went up in the air to catch a follow-up header with two minutes to go, then knocked away a long shot from the right wing and recovered to catch a bicycle kick rebound shot.

“He’s really good,” said Robinson. “We rely on him for that type of performance. The kids call him ‘puma’. There’s not much more you can say.”

“I just find the ball and keep running toward it,” said Friggle. “Freddie has helped me a lot. I’m always asking him how I can get better agility. He tells me I just have to keep diving and get back up.”

Perk School coach Mark Longstreth was also impressed by the West-Mont goalie and the Wings’ defense in general.

“Their goalie had a great game, and the defenders helped him out in front of the goal,” said the Panther coach. “We had a lot of good opportunities and they hung very tough in the back. They did a great job of that, and it’s not just this year.”

“He can do that every game,” Wachter said of Friggle. “Sometimes he’ll only face two shots and give up two goals. It’s all about being mentally prepared for the game.”

Wachter, who said that he’s been playing the sport since he was 4 or 5 years old, had chosen a good time to score career No. 100 — last Friday under the lights at West-Mont’s Homecoming against Valley Forge Baptist Academy.

“People were telling me to save it up for that,” he said.

Wachter credited his success to his teammates.

“I just say my team,” he added. “I just really enjoy my team this year.”

Robinson had a lot more to say about the attributes of his prolific scorer.

“Character and leadership … he’s the leader of the team,” the West-Mont coach said. “I rely on him for a lot of leadership skills. And the group trusts him. All 11 of them look to him for the tone of the game … that lightening rod, that anchor, that clam, steady experience.

“A lot of times he’s connected on the end of where the team’s working really hard to get him the ball and he realizes that. He’s not a glory hound.”

NOTES

The win kept West-Mont up at the top of the league with Phelps School, which came into the day at 7-0. … The Wings had eight shots with Panther starting keeper Porres Suarez making four saves before giving up up the Wachter goal and then going out to play in the field. Backup keeper Jude An made two saves. … Each team had two corner kicks, all in the second half. … West-Mont came close to scoring a couple of times in the second half, but Sam Cocchimiglio hit the crossbar with a long shot and Wachter punched one just over the goal off a corner kick.